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Braves rumors: Minor league free agents the Atlanta Braves should target

By Benjamin Chase

ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 02: Danny Santana
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 02: Danny Santana /
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MIAMI, FL – SEPTEMBER 29: Tomas Telis #18 of the Miami Marlins is tagged out at home by Kurt Suzuki #24 of the Atlanta Braves during a game at Marlins Park on September 29, 2017 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Catchers

One of the major issues the Atlanta Braves noted in 2018 was a lack of catching depth behind their two primary catchers. One of the best places to get that depth is the minor league free agency market, provided a major league free agent doesn’t fall through the cracks.

After playing the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals, Audry Perez left for the Baltimore Orioles for the last four seasons. Perez is a solid defender with some pop to his bat, though he doesn’t offer much contact to go with that power. He could be an excellent guy to store at AAA waiting for a need in Atlanta.

Considered a top prospect first in the Orioles farm system and then in the Cardinals system, Mike Ohlman is still just 28 in 2019. He has a power bat while also playing excellent defense behind the plate. Ohlman’s also a giant of a man at 6’5″ and 240 pounds, and that size allows him to be an excellent framer.

Puerto Rican Jan Vazquez was originally drafted in the 6th round in 2009. He is a quality defender and posts very good OBP deltas, with a .345 OBP in 2018 over 55 games in AAA. He does offer a bit of power as well.

After spending a season in the Dodgers organization, Cael Brockmeyer re-enters minor league free agency. The big catcher is coming off a season where he hit .306/.382/.419 between the two upper levels for the Dodgers. He could work well for the Braves in the upper minors.

Though he’s been up to the major leagues in five seasons, Tomas Telis has still only accumulated 122 major league games. In the minors, he’s a career .294/.333/.401 hitter. The switch-hitting Venezuelan brings a good glove and excellent contact skills that could be very useful.

An up-and-down offensive career since he was signed out of Taiwan peaked in 2018 for Jin-De Jhang in the Pirates organization as he hit .299/.348/.375. Even when not hitting as well, Jhang offers excellent defense behind the plate and good strike zone judgment at the plate.

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